Pl'RINE Pyrimidine 



(reduced) Adenine + (oxidized) Thymine 

 (oxidized) Guanine + (reduced) Cytosine 



3N=CH4 



I I 

 2H— C CH5 



II II 

 1N-CH6 



Pvrimidine 



1 \=CH 6 



2 H— C C— N 

 5 ^ 



H N = C— NH- 



I I 

 H— C C— \H 



3 N— C— N 

 4 9 



I'm ini- 



/ 



CH8 



N— C— N 



Adenine 



/ 



.CH 



HN— C = 



N = C— NH* H— N— C=0 



NH,— C C— NH = C C— H 



CH 



N— C— N 



Guanine 



/ 



H— N— CH 



Cytosine 



= C CH 



HN— CH 



Uracil 



I he i arbohydrate r. nbose or deoxynbose. 



H- 

 HO 

 HO- 



CHO 



I 

 -C— OH 



I 

 -C— H 



I 

 -C— H 



I 

 upon 



Arabinose 

 Fischer 



CHO 



I 

 HO— C— H 



I 

 HO— C— H 



I 

 HO— C— H 



I 

 CH,OH 



L-Ribose 

 and Piloty, 1H91 



\©/- 

 c 



HO 



\ © © / 



CH 2 — HC(OH) 



Deoxyribose 



CH- 



© 

 -CH 2 OH 



The exact position of phosphoric acid was established 

 after long work and verified by synthesis. 33 



A compound of adenine, ribose, and phosphoric 

 acid was found in yeast, blood, and in skeletal muscle 

 of mammals. From 100 grains of such muscle, 

 0.35-0.40 grams of this compound were isolated. If 

 the muscle is at rest, the compound contains three 

 molecules of phosphoric acid, linked through oxygen 

 atoms. It was named adenosine triphosphate or 

 adenyltriphosphoric acid, 34 usually abbreviated by 

 the symbol ATP. It releases one phosphoric acid 

 group very easily and goes over in the diphosphate, 

 ADP, but it can also lose 2 P-groups as pyrophosphoric 

 acid and leave the monophosphate, AMP. 



\ = C— \H, 



I I 

 HC C— N 



V 



CH 



OH OH 



H 



OH 



N— C— N- 



Ade 



-c— c- 



H H 



D-Rib( 



-c— c— o— p=o 



I I \ 



OH 



Phosphoric 

 acid 



This change of ATP was considered to be the main 

 source of energy in muscle contraction by Otto 

 Meyerhof. 35 The corresponding derivatives of gua- 

 nine, cytosine, and uracil were also found, and they 

 are active in the temporary transfer of phosphoric 

 acid groups in biological processes. 



Thus, the study of organic phosphates progressed 

 from the comparatively simple esters connected with 

 fatty substances of organisms to the proteins and the 

 nuclear substances of the cell. The proportional 

 amount of phosphorus in the former was larger than 

 in the latter; the actual importance and function in 

 the life of organisms, however, is not measured by 

 the quantity but determined by the special nature of 

 the compounds. 



The study of this function is the newest phase in the 

 history of phosphorus and represents the culmination 

 of the pre\ ions efforts. This newest phase developed 



:,: > Al 1 xander Todd, Les Prix Mobil en 1957 (Stockholm). 

 ' II s\s von l.i 11 R-OiiiipiN, Lei Prix Nobel en 1929 (Stock- 

 holm). 



M O. Meyerhof and E. Lundsgaard, Nalurwissenschaften 

 (Berlin, 1930), vol. 18, pp. 330, 787. 



194 



Bl'I.LKTIN 24€: CONTRIHUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



